{"id":77699,"date":"2026-06-24T18:03:03","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T12:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=77699"},"modified":"2026-06-24T18:03:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T12:33:27","slug":"submarine-cables-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/24-06-2026\/submarine-cables-2","title":{"rendered":"Submarine Cables: Critical Infrastructure of the Digital Age"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/ Science and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>British Empire&#8217;s &#8220;All-Red Line&#8221;<\/strong> demonstrated the strategic importance of communication networks, a role now performed by undersea fibre-optic cables connecting the digital world.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What Were Undersea Telegraph Cables?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Undersea telegraph cables were <strong>insulated communication wires laid<\/strong> on the seabed to transmit telegraphic messages across oceans.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They revolutionized<strong> long-distance communication<\/strong> by reducing message transmission time from weeks or months to a matter of minutes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They were the <strong>predecessors of today&#8217;s fibre-optic submarine cables<\/strong> that carry most global internet traffic.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In 1851, the world&#8217;s first successful undersea telegraph cable was laid across the<strong> English Channel<\/strong> by the<strong> Submarine Telegraph Company<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Emergence of the &#8220;All-Red Line&#8221;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In the <strong>late 19th century<\/strong>, Britain built a large network of undersea telegraph cables across its colonies.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This network was called the &#8220;All-Red Line&#8221; because British colonies were shown in <strong>red colour on maps.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"d9dedc\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"581\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-207-1024x581.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-77701\" style=\"--dominant-color: #d9dedc; aspect-ratio:1.762507376565471;width:643px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-207-1024x581.png 1024w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-207-300x170.png 300w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-207-768x436.png 768w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-207.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The network connected different parts of the British Empire and helped Britain communicate quickly with its colonies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The network passed through British-controlled territories to avoid dependence on rival powers.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Cables were drawn from the <strong>Strait of Gibraltar <\/strong>into the Mediterranean, routed through <strong>Malta and the Suez Canal<\/strong>, into the Red Sea, across the Indian Ocean to <strong>Bombay,<\/strong> and stretched as far as <strong>Hong Kong.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Major Vulnerabilities Associated with Undersea Cables<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Concentration of Infrastructure:<\/strong> Many submarine cables are concentrated along the same seabed routes, creating dangerous<strong> single points of failure.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Difficulty in Repair Operations:<\/strong> Repairing damaged submarine cables requires specialised ships, technical expertise, and international coordination. Repair operations become difficult during military tensions or maritime conflicts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Legal and Regulatory Ambiguity:<\/strong> International legal frameworks regarding intentional cable disruption <strong>remain weak and ambiguous<\/strong>, especially in situations involving hybrid warfare or grey-zone conflicts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>India&#8217;s Undersea Cable Network<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India is a significant player in the global submarine cable network, with 17 international cables and 14 landing stations in cities like Mumbai and Chennai.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>As of the end of <strong>2022<\/strong>, the total lit capacity and activated capacity of these cables stood at <strong>138.606 Tbps<\/strong> and <strong>111.111 Tbps,<\/strong> respectively.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India is linked to global networks through several submarine cables, including <strong>SMW4 (South East Asia\u2013Middle East\u2013Western Europe 4)<\/strong> and <strong>IMEWE (India\u2013Middle East\u2013Western Europe).<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"dedbdc\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-206-1024x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-77700\" style=\"--dominant-color: #dedbdc; width:607px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-206-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-206-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-206-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-206-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-206.png 1458w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>India\u2019s Undersea Cable Technological Deficiencies<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>India lacks defined legal mechanisms to safeguard undersea cables<\/strong> within its territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Unlike countries like Australia, which has \u201c<strong>Cable Protection Zones\u201d<\/strong> regulated under UNCLOS, India has yet to designate similar zones, leaving its cables vulnerable to both accidental and malicious damage.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Operational Readiness:<\/strong> India lacks indigenous cable repair ships and relies on foreign vessels for maintenance. This absence significantly delays restoration following cable damage.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Monitoring Shortfall: <\/strong>There is minimal undersea infrastructure for real-time surveillance of subsea cable networks, which further risks timely detection and response to disruptions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><strong>International Advisory Body for Submarine Cable Resilience<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It was established by the<strong> International Telecommunication Union (ITU) <\/strong>in partnership with the <strong>International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) in 2024.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This initiative aims to<strong> strengthen the resilience of submarine cables.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Advisory Body will also provide <strong>strategic guidance<\/strong> to address challenges related to<strong> increasing traffic, aging infrastructure, and growing environmental threats<\/strong> to submarine cables.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>ICPC,<strong> founded in 1958<\/strong>, is a global forum for governments and commercial entities involved in the submarine cable industry.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Its primary mission<\/strong> is to enhance the security of undersea cables by providing a platform for exchanging technical, legal, and environmental information.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/neet-re-exam-how-china-holds-biggest-college-entrance-exam-10750036\/?ref=infinite\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>IE<\/strong><\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/digital-resilience\/submarine-cables\/advisory-body\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ITU<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pib.gov.in\/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2081003&amp;noshow=1&amp;utm_source=chatgpt.com&amp;reg=48&amp;lang=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PIB<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong><br \/>\nContext<\/p>\n<p><\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">\n<p>The British Empire&#8217;s &#8220;All-Red Line&#8221; demonstrated the strategic importance of communication networks, a role now performed by undersea fibre-optic cables connecting the digital world.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/p>\n<p>What Were Undersea Telegraph Cables?<\/p>\n<p><\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"\t>\n<p>Undersea telegraph cables were insulated communication wires laid on the seabed to transmit telegraphic messages across oceans.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">\n<p>They revolutionized long-distance communication by reducing message transmission time from weeks or months to a matter of minutes.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/24-06-2026\/submarine-cables-2 \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77699"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77705,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77699\/revisions\/77705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}